The late John Candy has been in the news a lot lately. The legend is the subject of a documentary, John Candy: I Like Me, which you can watch with a Prime subscription starting this weekend, and a new biography, John Candy: A Life in Comedy, by author Paul Myers.
In the book, comedian and friend Steve Martin talks about their experience shooting one of the most beloved comedies of all time together, Planes, Trains And Automobiles. It will come as no surprise that Candy continually cracked Martin and the crew up on set, and there is one story that really exemplifies why Candy was so adored by millions, especially those closest to him.
It Was A Long Production, But It Never Got Tedious
According to Martin in the book, via People, Candy was always able to light up the set during the long hours and between shoots. One of the things that Candy could do that got to Martin every time is a little reminiscent of a trick Eddie Murphy could do also. Candy would pretend to be in movie with bad English overdubs. Instead of Kung Fu movies like Murphy, Candy used old Gladiator movies. Martin explains,
John could always make me laugh. He had this bit he would do where he would pretend that he was in one of those old Italian gladiator movies that had been dubbed badly into English. He’d say something like, ‘Kneel before your queen, Centurion,’ but he would move his mouth after he’d finished the line. It just made me laugh every time.
That’s just one of the many things Candy did to keep things light on set and on film.
They Kept Each Other Sane In Interesting Ways
Martin admits that John Hughes, who wrote and directed the film, had a 185-page script, but that didn’t stop the two master comedians from improvising a lot and coming up with some of Candy’s most iconic quotes. From the story, it sounds like there were quite a few times that things went wrong with the production, most of which was on location. That meant that keeping things happy on set was crucial for the actors and the crew, and Candy always came through.
Throughout the challenging shoot, Martin admits that it was Candy who kept him going with silly games, like fake fighting first thing in the morning to get out some frustrations,
It’s hard to explain this, but it was something to do when the shoot was getting long and difficult, because we were actually in those freezing circumstances. We had this thing, we’d come in in the morning and we’d fake frustration by faking a punch-out to each other.
It would end every time in laughter, according to Martin, ensuring that the difficult circumstances of the production never got to them. Martin says,
I’d pretend-hit him in the face and then he’d pretend-hit me back, and we would both just laugh and laugh at that. And it’s hard to explain why that was funny. It was just, everything was so difficult that you were just taking it out on each other.
The chemistry between Candy and Martin is clear to see on the screen for anyone who has ever seen the movie, especially those who have seen it countless times over the years. Hearing these behind-the-scenes stories confirms why we all love the movie so much.
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